We got to Nashville early Friday morning. We wanted to be able to spend the whole day there before the race. We shopped, had lunch, picked up our packets (the expo took us several hours to go through, it was the biggest one I've ever been to), shopped some more, checked into our hotel and had dinner. We went a famous pizza place called DeSano and it was so good! We called it a night pretty early since our race was in the morning.
Now let me tell you a little back story before I get too much into race day. My training was pretty much non-exsitent. Well okay I did train a little but only for about 1 month before the race. I ran some short runs, and 8 mile, 11mile and thats it. And any of you who run know that wasn't the smartest decision and even though I knew I would finish and be fine- my body (legs) were going to suffer. Well about 2 weeks ago I started having knee pain and it just got continually worse, so that played a part in my last few weeks of training not going so well too. I kept just shrugging it off and knew it was because I wasn't training properly and was putting too much stress on my knee. So Thursday before the race I went to run one last little short run. I ran 4.5 miles and it was absolutely awful. I was limping the whole way and when I was done I was almost in tears it was hurting so bad.
So going into the race I was slightly panicked I wasn't even going to be able to race. My biggest fear was I would start and make it few miles and have to drop out- thats how bad my pain was. Well I was able to get some cream for it and get it all taped up at the expo (I am a firm believer in kinesiology tape now) and to my surprise it helped a ton. Now yes I still had pain the whole race and had to run a lot slower than my normal pace, but it wasn't as sharp and I give all credit to that tape. It was a life-saver.
Our race started at 7am- I loved that it wasn't so early like others I've done. But since we went off in corrals I actually didn't go off until a few minutes before 8. It was pure torture waiting in line for an hour by myself watching everyone else start (when I was already super nervous about my knee). Since I didn't really train and I was hurt I did not have a goal time I wanted to finish in- I was just praying I did finish, but I really really really wanted to be no longer than 3 hours. My other races I've done are well under that, but I knew with my situation I was going to be lucky to finish in 3. Well I have a watch that keeps track and from when I stared to when I crossed the finish like it was right under 3 hours, but when I looked at my time on the website it says 3:03! I wasn't happy when I saw that bc I knew I was right under 3 and that was my goal. Now with as many races as I've done I know your time gets messed up a little so I am going by my watch because I know it is correct and we'll say I finished right at 3 hours. I felt funny when I was telling Mitch I was so happy to finish at 3, because usually I would think that is a bad time for me. I usually finish well under 2 when I'm healthy, but for my situation I was thrilled to make it! Also, I need to mention this was the HILLIEST course ever!!! Oh my gosh- it wasn't one or two steep hills like I'm use to- it was literally a constant hill the whole time. When I got done and saw Mitch our first words were "THOSE HILLS!!!" And on top of it just being a crazy hard course, when you add an injured knee the hills were double hard for me.
Mitch finished at like 1:50 (I can't remember his exact time) but he always does awesome! I just felt bad he had to sit and wait an hour for me to get done. Another highlight is we saw Gunner and Zoey from the show Nashville. Its a long story but so funny and it was my first official celebrity sighting in Nashville! I always say I'm going to see someone every time we're there but this time I actually did!
So we made it- Mitch rocked it and well, I finished it! This was my "dream" race to run and so now I can mark it off my bucket list. And it was by far the BEST one I've ever done (best as in fun, not best time ha!) It was so well organized- they had breakfast for you before, water, gatorade and GU for you on the course and so much food at the after party! We try and do one a year and it will be hard not to do this one again (especially for me since I would like to conquer it healthy). But we love to run different ones each year. Experiencing different races is so fun and we are thinking of what we want to do next year.
Tomorrow is Mitch's birthday and I am throwing him a little birthday celebration this afternoon!!! Check back soon for how it all went! :)
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